…Jean Segura.
While most knowledgeable baseball fans have heard of Mike Trout, few have heard of Jean Segura, an unheralded Dominican that was signed by the Los Angeles Angels in 2007 at the ripe age of 16. However, after an excellent season last year in Lo-A Cedar Rapids where Segura batted .313, stole 50 bases while slugging 10 home runs, the Angels started to envision a major league batting order that went: 1. Mike Trout, and 2. Jean Segura.
Segura is a strong and athletic generating tremendous bat speed for a guy 5’ 10” and 185 pounds. Based on his swing mechanics, there appears to be power upside to the 10 home runs that Segura hit in 2010. In addition to the offensive upside, managers in the Midwest League ranked him as the best defensive second baseman in the league. With his plus arm, the Angels have moved Segura to shortstop in hopes that he will be an eventual upgrade in the big leagues.
Over the first 15 games of the 2011 season in Hi-A Inland Empire, Segura has raked - batting .344 with six stolen bases and 10 runs scored. While the sample size is small, his contact rate and walk rate have been excellent at 85% and 10% respectfully. Also, the transition to shortstop has been equally great with Segura only committing one error over the course of the first 15 games.
While slightly behind Trout, Segura should get a promotion to Double-A later this summer and assuming things go well, should get a peak at the big league in 2012 before competing for a job in 2013.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Kershaw, Billingsley…and now Zach Lee
Zach Lee was selected #28 overall in the 2010 Rule 4 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers but was regarded as one of the top high school pitching prospects by many scouts; some scouts even ranking his raw talent above Jameson Taillon. So, why did he drop?
It turns out that Zach Lee was even a better high school quarterback and after being recruited by dozens of colleges, Lee signed with LSU. He had already started spring two-a-day practices when word hit that the Dodgers had picked Lee with pick #28 in the June amateur Rule 4 draft. After a lot of negotiating, Lee finally signed for a franchise record $5.25M draft bonus.
While the 6’ 3”, 190 pound Lee was demonstrating a mid 90’s fastball and a nasty breaking ball in the fall instructional league, he’s still got a long way to go. As a two-sport high school athlete, Lee really didn’t focus on his pitching and in fact has admitted that his mechanics are self -taught. You can look at this two-ways – 1) Uh oh, this guy is heading for arm trouble or 2) with some instruction, the sky could be the limit. Obviously the Dodgers believe it’s the latter and after the signing, many scouts are saying the same thing.
With the recent success of Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley, the Dodgers have demonstrated they can groom prospects quickly into front of the rotation starters. Many Dodgers faithful are hoping that Lee will follow a similar accelerated path to the major leagues that Kershaw had. As a reminder, after a brief stint in Rookie Ball in the year he was drafted, Kershaw started 2007 in low-A Great Lakes before ending the season in AA. In 2008, after 61.1 innings in AA, he was promoted to the Majors.
Zach Lee is a player that baseball fans and fantasy baseball owners alike need to pay close attention during the 2011 season. Concentrate on the K/9 rate as well as the HR/9 rate and don’t worry as much with the walk rate. For raw talents, this is the last thing to mature. It’s only been in the last year that Clayton Kershaw has put that element together.
Zach Lee will make his major league debut this spring playing in Single A Great Lakes.
It turns out that Zach Lee was even a better high school quarterback and after being recruited by dozens of colleges, Lee signed with LSU. He had already started spring two-a-day practices when word hit that the Dodgers had picked Lee with pick #28 in the June amateur Rule 4 draft. After a lot of negotiating, Lee finally signed for a franchise record $5.25M draft bonus.
While the 6’ 3”, 190 pound Lee was demonstrating a mid 90’s fastball and a nasty breaking ball in the fall instructional league, he’s still got a long way to go. As a two-sport high school athlete, Lee really didn’t focus on his pitching and in fact has admitted that his mechanics are self -taught. You can look at this two-ways – 1) Uh oh, this guy is heading for arm trouble or 2) with some instruction, the sky could be the limit. Obviously the Dodgers believe it’s the latter and after the signing, many scouts are saying the same thing.
With the recent success of Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley, the Dodgers have demonstrated they can groom prospects quickly into front of the rotation starters. Many Dodgers faithful are hoping that Lee will follow a similar accelerated path to the major leagues that Kershaw had. As a reminder, after a brief stint in Rookie Ball in the year he was drafted, Kershaw started 2007 in low-A Great Lakes before ending the season in AA. In 2008, after 61.1 innings in AA, he was promoted to the Majors.
Zach Lee is a player that baseball fans and fantasy baseball owners alike need to pay close attention during the 2011 season. Concentrate on the K/9 rate as well as the HR/9 rate and don’t worry as much with the walk rate. For raw talents, this is the last thing to mature. It’s only been in the last year that Clayton Kershaw has put that element together.
Zach Lee will make his major league debut this spring playing in Single A Great Lakes.
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Next Big Prospect?
A young 19 year old right-handed pitcher with an identity crisis has caused quite a stir in spring training this year for the St. Louis Cardinals. The player - Carlos Martinez or is it Carlos Matias?
Carlos Martinez has a story that few of us in the US can appreicate. He was original signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Red Sox as Carlos Matias. However, his contract was voided when his visa application failed due to the discrepancy of his last name. Martinez’s mother died when he was young and he was raised by his uncle who gave him his surname, Matias. Well, the Dominican government called foul and rejected his visa until he had his name legally changed to his mother’s name of Martinez.
The Red Sox loss was the Cardinals gain as they signed him last year to an impressive $1.5 million signing bonus – a hefty amount for a teenager who doesn’t turn 20 until this September. Standing only 6 feet tall and a 160 pounds, Martinez has an electric arm with his fastball sitting in the mid 90’s but hitting 98-99. During a first look in Jupiter Florida earlier this spring, the Cardinals brass were effusive in their praise. Prior to that, all we had seen were fuzzy video tapes and oh yeah, a 78K/14BB performance over 59 innings in the Dominican Summer league last year.
Am I worried about the durability of a slight 6 foot pitcher? Sure! Today, major league teams are looking for tall projectable 6’ 4” 220 pound guys that have that great downward plane. Thank you Randy Johnson! It’s my one worry about young Manny Bannuels, the Yankees young prospect that is another player causing a stir in Spring Training. He’s 5’ 11” and 155 pounds.
As with all young pitchers, Martinez’s secondary pitches will have to be taught and refined by the Cardinals. Over the past several years, the Cardinals have had a lot of success in grooming young pitchers with a lot of upside. See Adam Wainwright, who really excelled once he was traded from the Braves in 2003 and more recently, the young Shelby Miller.
While we don’t expect Martinez to hit the major leagues anytime soon, guys that can throw in the upper 90’s don’t grow on trees and therefore is a pitcher that fantasy owners in dynasty leagues and deep keeper leagues need to follow this season.
Carlos Martinez has a story that few of us in the US can appreicate. He was original signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Red Sox as Carlos Matias. However, his contract was voided when his visa application failed due to the discrepancy of his last name. Martinez’s mother died when he was young and he was raised by his uncle who gave him his surname, Matias. Well, the Dominican government called foul and rejected his visa until he had his name legally changed to his mother’s name of Martinez.
The Red Sox loss was the Cardinals gain as they signed him last year to an impressive $1.5 million signing bonus – a hefty amount for a teenager who doesn’t turn 20 until this September. Standing only 6 feet tall and a 160 pounds, Martinez has an electric arm with his fastball sitting in the mid 90’s but hitting 98-99. During a first look in Jupiter Florida earlier this spring, the Cardinals brass were effusive in their praise. Prior to that, all we had seen were fuzzy video tapes and oh yeah, a 78K/14BB performance over 59 innings in the Dominican Summer league last year.
Am I worried about the durability of a slight 6 foot pitcher? Sure! Today, major league teams are looking for tall projectable 6’ 4” 220 pound guys that have that great downward plane. Thank you Randy Johnson! It’s my one worry about young Manny Bannuels, the Yankees young prospect that is another player causing a stir in Spring Training. He’s 5’ 11” and 155 pounds.
As with all young pitchers, Martinez’s secondary pitches will have to be taught and refined by the Cardinals. Over the past several years, the Cardinals have had a lot of success in grooming young pitchers with a lot of upside. See Adam Wainwright, who really excelled once he was traded from the Braves in 2003 and more recently, the young Shelby Miller.
While we don’t expect Martinez to hit the major leagues anytime soon, guys that can throw in the upper 90’s don’t grow on trees and therefore is a pitcher that fantasy owners in dynasty leagues and deep keeper leagues need to follow this season.
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